the majority of people i follow on my instagram (my fitness instagram in particular - follow along if you’d like!) are people who motivate me to keep getting on my mat, to the gym, or going after my goals. i love seeing where other’s journeys begin and where they are now. before and afters/progress pictures are the biggest motivators for me.

with the new year in full-swing, my feed is filled with people’s goals, their progress or starting points, and just all the positivity that a fresh year brings. i decided to do something different this year and set goals or intentions for each month instead of a bunch of goals with no real '“deadline”. for january, i am making it my goal to find my rhythm with yoga - learn to freestyle - but also work on my king pigeon pose (along with the splits, but those progress pictures will come later!).

i never thought i would have my own “before and after/ progress” photo because my body’s shape has not changed much and i haven’t taken those types of photos intentionally (but i want to soon!). but just the other day, 2 days into the new yoga program i have started (it’s called letsstartyoga by my favourite yogi on instagram, jessica olie) i not only found a deeper love for yoga, but i also unintentionally got my “after”/ “progress” picture!

i used to be able to do this variation of king pigeon a couple of years ago with ease, but when i tried it out last month (december 13th to be exact), i wasn’t quite there with it. fast forward to january 2nd, day two of the #letsstartyoga program (for me), and i am so amazed to see my progress! with the proper warmup, breathing, and practice, i was able to almost get back to where i was a couple of years ago!

but most importantly, i became my own motivation!

it may not be perfect, and i have a long way to go yet, but it feels amazing to see and feel the difference.

everyone’s goals are different, and progress is subjective - something that i forget sometimes - so, learn to look at where you started with any goal you have and see where you are now. if you have fallen off your “goal train”, hop back on and try again! you’ll never know if you can accomplish something until you give it your all!

i am making this year a big one for me - lots of goals i want to reach and things i need to get done. lots of growing, doing, and “blooming”. these photos have me so pumped to see what else i can accomplish this year!